The Martin case: the gamble didn’t pay off, but was it unforeseeable?

Jorge Martin threw in the towel at Sepang, but the matter does not end with his withdrawal. How was it possible for the former world champion to be cleared by the MotoGP doctors with a broken arm just six days before returning to the track in Malaysia?

Another question also arises, perhaps an even more pressing one. Given how compromised his physical condition was, what was the point of the whole "impossible comeback" campaign mounted by the rider with Aprilia's approval? In the end, it was a pointless effort, and perhaps even counterproductive. If he had gone straight back to Spain after his crash at Phillip Island and skipped Malaysia, he might have been able to return in Qatar in reasonable shape. Hindsight, of course—but one incontrovertible fact should have been at the heart of the calculations: with two Grands Prix so close together, hoping to take on Marc Marquez with a broken arm was never going to make any sense.

On Saturday morning, Aprilia announced that the Spaniard would take no further part in the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend. His withdrawal came after a Friday on which his comeback attempt had already run up against his physical limitations, as we reported in Jorge Martin gives in at Sepang: "Here's why I decided to stop".

The Aprilia rider broke his right radius in a crash during last Saturday's Sprint at Phillip Island. By the following Thursday, he had already received medical clearance—the first green light for Sepang. According to Paddock-GP, Martin completed 12 laps in FP1, finishing 20th, almost two seconds behind Marc Marquez, before receiving final clearance. In pre-qualifying, however, he stopped after just three laps and a frightening moment at Turn 10. Aprilia, in agreement with MotoGP medical director Angel Charte, decided to end the session.

The point is that an injury of this kind usually requires several weeks of rest, with the wrist immobilized for an extended period. And a rider uses his right hand to operate the throttle and front brake.

Marco Melandri gave his take: "You're going to have to explain this situation to me. Fernandez breaks a finger at Mandalika and races the next day. Then, over the following two weeks, he feels unwell and doesn't race. Martin, on the other hand, has a broken radius—a bone that bears all the load under braking, especially at Sepang, where you brake with the bike leaned over to the right and the force falls squarely on that arm. He finishes last in practice, skips pre-qualifying and is declared fit to be reassessed tomorrow."

The former rider from Romagna is not questioning the courage of those who race—quite the opposite. "I'll always side with the riders, so I'd probably do the same thing, maybe even worse. But the real question is: who decides whether a rider is fit to race or not? How is it possible that a rider with a broken finger three weeks ago wasn't fit, while another, with a broken radius, can race because the championship is at stake? I don't know—you tell me. There seems to be just one rule, as always: the show must go on."

Meanwhile, the standings are shifting. With his second place in the Sepang Sprint, Marc Marquez has moved 19 points ahead of Martin, who has already declared the title fight "over", while promising to keep fighting. The Spaniard will return to Spain to continue his recovery and is aiming to race in Qatar next weekend, where he hopes to be at 80% fitness. It remains to be seen who will have the final say on his fitness to race at Lusail.

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